Straight through the Heart

Chapter 16

I hear knocking outside my bedroom door. I choose to ignore it.

"You can't stay in there forever Jax." Niccolo raises his voice to me.

"You need to come out soon. It's not healthy to stay in there all day." Lorenzo adds after him.

I listen but don't reply. Instead, I crawl into a smaller circle and snuggle deeper into my bed. I pretend that the cover is shielding me away from my troubles. 

"We aren't going to play nice." Robin is also with them. "You can either choose to open the door for us, or we will do it ourselves." 

They're not going to break down my door. I frown and ignore them once more. I don't want to deal with people, especially my family right now. 

"Naomi Jax Smith. You have been warned." One of my cousins say before I see an opened door. The three of them glance at me unamused.

"Your lock is too easy." Niccolo says casually before looking at me.

"Leave me alone." I grumble and ignore them. Why can't they just leave me alone? I want to cry by myself and not be bothered.

"You've been in there for a whole day now. It's time to get up." Robin looks at me worriedly. My eyes narrow on the exchanged looks that he gives to my cousins.

"I can handle myself just fine. What do you want?" 

"For you to get your ass out of this room. You're not acting like the Jax I know." Lorenzo says with a heavy sigh. 

"Jax, Lorenzo is right. This isn't healthy. We are really worried for you." NIcco adds on and lets out a deep breath.

"Thanks for worrying. I'm fine though. I'm alive and well. You guys can go." I sit up and shoo them away. 

"After what happened with Amber, we thought..." Nicco stops himself when he sees me tense up.

"I said I'm fine. You guys can go." I grit my teeth and I can feel a ball of fire grow inside of me. 

"Naomi. We are here for you." Robin uses my legal name, which means that he's being very serious. 

"And I know you guys are. I just want some alone time." I emphasize in response to their worries. I don't need them to worry about me. They are just wasting their time. 

It's already been a whole week since Amber has been...murdered. Simply thinking about the fact that she has been murdered is still very foreign to me. A part of has not accepted the fact that that she has died. I keep expecting her to walk into my rom and ask to borrow some clothes or to watch a movie with me. Yet, I also cannot get rid of the horrifying image of her death from my mind. It's seared into my brain and all I can think about when I'm trying to sleep. 

My cousins and brother have a right to be worried. I haven't been going to class. I have skipped a whole week worth of classes, which could negatively affect my grade. I did email my teachers, who have been quite lenient and kind to me. I am grateful that they have sent me worksheets, lessons, and notes. Of course, I have not looked at them yet. 

There's also the fact that my phone is officially broken and I am off social media. I threw my phone and broke some stuff in a fit of anger. My roommates and sorority sisters are all mourning together and/or alone and I have cooped myself in my room. 

I also have barely eaten. I just have no appetite. I don't want to eat anything in particular. My brother and cousins take turns and put food outside my door. Sometimes, I drink water and eat a piece or two from the food they have given me. 

I guess I'm a little bit of a mess. 

"What's that smile on your face?" Rob looks at me with a worried exp ression.